NL GenWeb 1838 'Census'

Northern Peninsula - St. Barbe North District

River of Ponds

The HMS Crocodile of the Royal Navy was built at the Chatham Dockyard near London in October 1825. She was 114 feet [34.7 metres] long by 32 feet [9.75 meters] wide and had been armed with 20 32-pdr. carronades, 6 18-pdr. cannon and 2 6-pdr. cannon. On May 20, 1838 the HMS Crocidile arrived in Prince Edward Island, carrying 86 members of the Sutherland Highlanders. It may have been during this journey, that the Captain carried out his 'Census' of Northern Peninsula from Bonne Bay to Savage Cove. In 1850 the
HMS Crocodile was put into harbour service serving as a floating defence for London, England. In 1857 she was used in the Royal Navy as a receiving ship for new sailors and was moored near the Tower of London. She was sold by the Navy in 1861.

Notes: The list was retrieved from a report to the British Colonial Office given by the captain of the Crocodile in 1838. It gives a hint of the sparsity of the population and how separated they were from one another by geography. Their common occupation (the fishery) and their native ancestry appears to be the only bonds or threads which held them together along the rugged coast line.

According to page 185 of Patrick O'Flaherty's book Old Newfoundland, A History to 1843, the Captain of the HMS Crocodile in 1838 was Captain J. Polkinghorne.

Notes from Bud Gould: The information is transcribed exactly as it was given to me. ? Coombs is George Coombs. ? Dredge is William Dredge. John Gould from England is really Alexander Duncan from Scotland.

The information was submitted by RAYMOND "BUD" GOULD JR. from material supplied by PHILIP RUMBOLT
and posted to NFGenWeb on December, 2001. While I have tried to be careful, there could be problems -
transcription errors, interpretations of handwriting or errors existing in the actual data.

Name of Settlement

Resident

# in Family

Yrs here

Native Place

Occupation

River of Ponds

Wm. Ploughman

3

1

England

Salmon fishery.

Josh Clarke

1

3

Wiltshire

Employed during the summer in a schooner belonging to Chas Paine, and in the winter Hunting furs